How many cars did Elvis shoot? We know about his Pantera, but he plugged others as well, including this 1968 Cadillac Eldorado for sale on Hemmings.com. Apparently well documented as Elvis’s Eldorado, it also seems to have been well preserved since Elvis owned it, and though it hasn’t racked up that many miles under its own power, it has traveled the world as part of a number of Elvis artifact exhibits. From the seller’s description:

Elvis Presley spotted this Topaz Gold Firemist beauty parked outside a Memphis Cadillac dealer showroom on December 28, 1967, and decided on the spot that he had to have it. He immediately made it his daily transportation and reportedly used the car for approximately thirteen months. At one point, the car would not start and Elvis furthered his reputation for shooting displeasing inanimate objects by deploying his side-arm and plugging the car in the right front fender. The bullet hole still remains there today. Elvis drove the car up until the birth of his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, on February 1, 1968. A short time afterwards, Elvis gave the Cadillac to the stepfather of his wife, Priscilla Presley, as a gift. It saw very little use until being purchased by a Mr. Johnny Mac, who imported it to Australia and used it for promotional purposes. It was then purchased by four Australian businessmen in 1987 who put the car on display as part of an Elvis Presley Exhibition, together with records and other memorabilia, near Perth, Australia. In 1994, the entire exhibition was sold to the Memphis Rock Cafe in Queensland, Australia, where the car was on display in an air conditioned glass enclosure until late 1998. In March of 1999 the car was sold in Melbourne, Australia. The car then came back to the U.S. where it has remained since then.

51 Responses to “Hemmings Find of the Day – 1968 Cadillac Eldorado”

Love it. However, they need to fix the grille. Really, whoever painted the grille, it was amateur hour. You’re supoposed to see the squares / cross ribbing in chrome / silver, with the black in the background. (think “Egg Crate Grille”…..)

For $229K, that should be correct, whether or not The King owned it…..

I agree, and obviously that is the first flaw we see on the car. I tend to be a realist, and couldn’t give a hoot that potbelly Elvis owned it or not. The price is insane, and only a total fool with his money will buy it. If THIS car is how a person wants to spend $230K, then their wallet is bigger than their level of common sense. I see a gold `68 Eldo, and nothing else.

At the time Elvis was driving this car (late ’67 through early ’69), he technically was not “potbelly Elvis.” That would have included the time period of his famous Christmas 1968 TV special for which he whipped himself back into shape and looked as good as ever for pretty much the last time in his life.

Agreed 100% on the grille though, and I also think the projected price is slightly alarming.

I love how Elvis shot the car because it wouldn’t start. I suppose it says something about Mr. Presley’s temperament, but speaks volumes about the quality of automobile manufacture at the time. I mean, a top-of-the-line luxury car was less than a year old and it WOULDN’T START?

My family had that exact same car, same year, when I was a kid. (A lighter shade of gold; no vinyl top. My Father through the vinyl top ruined / clutterred up the already cool lines on the car…) We had no problems with it; it was a geat car.

For all we know, Elvis might have treated this thing the same way he treated his own body. It might not have started after going 6 or 7 thousand miles without an oil change…..

He could have left the lights on and drained the battery, It could have been out of gas(Likely). The Eldorado was a very special Cadillac at the time, Redesigned for 1967 with a unique Body by Fleetwood, a symbol of Cadillacs engineering Prowess with a reliable modern Frt wheel drive Unified Powerplant Package with 427ci engine. You can be sure it was built to a high standard. Far more likely it was user error than any manufacturing defect.

I had a polyethylene toy of this car that I drove into the ground. Toy or for real, it seemed to me a thoroughly modern car, at the time and still, from these pictures, especially the interior. Never mind Elvis. Nothing dated about his Caddy — oddly. Don’t remember seeing many on the road, though.

Because Elvis owned it and then shot it, this is no longer a 1968 Eldorado. It is an item of interest, and the asking price reflects that interest. The price is not a function of, or related to, current prices of late-60′s non-Elvis owned and shot Cadillac automobiles. It should make a fine addition to any museum located in Gatlinburg, TN.

One of the two of the cadilac wagons sold for 25k less that a year ago, They say that those were the only two cadilac ever made but that”s not true because they use them and have used them for years as the last car you will ever ride in to your grave site.

Nope. I can’t tell if these are bias ply or radial, but my recollection is that 1″ stripes, which these appear to be, were the norm from about 1963 on. Wider white walls pretty much went out of vogue with fins. In 1971-72 dual white pinstripes became available, but with the move to radials it was back to 1″ (or so) white walls.

The right front fender is bent and the lower molding below the marker lamp does not fit. I do not remember this bright gold paint and neither does the paint chips. They did have a lighter gold. Could be a dealer repaint but I believe if they rattle canned the grille then this car has probably been repainted at some time in the wrong color.

I actually like the ’68 Eldorado. If I had this car I’d drive it, bullet hole and all. However, there is one albeit with considerably more miles on the sidebar. That one better fits my budget. Maybe I’ll get it and put my own bullet hole in it.

Somehow, these later model Cadillacs just don’t get it for me, Elvis or not. The price on this one is outlandish, again, Elvis or not. This model, to me, looks cheap and garish, even the hub caps appear to have been stamped out of tomato can material, and as for that grill…who cares? I’ll take the mid-fourties, early to mid- fifties and early sixties Cads anytime!

My question is: can anyone conclusively prove that Elvis shot it? If not, it’s a ’68 Eldorado with a bullet hole that must be repaired. There doesn’t seem to be any question that Elvis owned the car, but even taking that history into consideration, the price seems mighty steep.

Oh, and the the yellow ’68 in the side bar with the blackwall tires, and under $10k price is a MUCH better looking car. Always thought ’67 and ’68′s looked the best. Then they just got more “glitzy” and more bloated, Much like Elvis. IMHO

Fact is, the KING still sells.I would not be surprised at all if some Elvis fan buys this. You know the joke–They dug up Elvis after 36 years and determined he is still better looking then Mick Jagger ever was.

Anyhow I never liked this style of Cadillac. Give me the 54 through 58, especially the 57/58 with the stainless steel roof. They are true Cadillac Eldorado’s.

If track record means anything, there are three Elvis cars that have been auctioned off in the last decade that have sold for over a quarter of a million dollars; An Elvis auction in Las Vegas about ten years ago had as its big-ticket item the ’56 Lincoln Continental Elvis bought in August of 1956, and is one of the very few cars he never sold (or perhaps more accuartely, gave away). The Lincoln went for $256,000, and is actually back at the car museum across the street from Graceland, on loan from its owner.

The 1960 Lincoln Mark V Limousine Elvis ordered while he was in the Army in Germany, for delivery by the time he was honorably discharged, sold at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale about 7-8 years ago for $515,000; more recently, a Bonham’s auction in California two years ago featured a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine purchased for Elvis and his band to travel in as he became world-famous. That vehicle, expected to fetch between $100,000-$150,000, eventually sold for $275,000.

Given that Graceland maintains its half-million visitor per year attendance, with half of those visiting not even born when Elvis had died, would imply that there is still a strong market for all things Presley-related, including his chariots. Even in this soft classic-car market, it wouldn’t surprise me if at some point the purchaser at Auburn make a nice return on his/her investment…

I own a 1968 Eldorado in the correct, original Topaz Gold Firemist color. This is clearly a ‘close enough’ re-spray and the grill is all wrong as noted. This same car sold at auction several years ago with all the Elvis connections noted for under $20,000. This is all rather silly and the car has clearly not appreciated much in that short time, let alone 1000%. As this car is no longer original due to the questionable painting, the value should be lower.

I saw this car go through the Auburn Auction over Labor
Day weekend. You can search Auctions America. It sold for around $60,000 plus buyers premium.. They are trying to prove the greater fool theory I guess. It was in AMAZING condition.